rafert



l. D. RAFERT, MACHINE FOR MAKING PRESUCED BREAD LOM/Es.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 2.1917.

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MAcHlNE FOR MAKING PREsucEn BREAD LoAves,

APPLICATION FLEU NOV. 2| 1917.

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3 SHETS-SHET 2.

L D. RAFERT.

MAcHrNE FOR MAKING Pmsucw BREAD LoAvEs.

PPUCATON FILED NOV. 2. 1917. l Pasnod 5mg' 3y M19.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

JOEY D. RFEIT, 0F FLTNN'EPGLIS, MLNNESOT.

EACHNE M KING PRESLXCED BREAE-LOAVES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July S, 11919.

pplcation tiled cvernber 2. 1917. Serial No. 199.9%?.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that l', JoHN D. RAFnn'r, a citizen of the United States, residing at Minneapolis, in the county of Hennepin and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Machines for Making lh'esliccd Bread-Leaves; and l do hereby declare the following to be a lull, clear, and enact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the to which it appertains to make and use the saine.

My invention has tor its object to provide a novel apparatus tor preslicing loaves of bread adapted for use in carrying out my improved process, as disclosed and broadly claimed in my co-pending application filed November 12, 1918, under S. N. 262,1-7, and entitled Pre-sliced bread leal.

'lo the above ent the invention consists orn the novel devices and combination of devices hereinafter described and defined in the claims.

ln the accompanying drawings, which illustrate the invention, like characters indicate like parts throughout the several views.

lleierring to the drawings Figure 1 is a perspective view showing a bakinga pan containing sui'icient dough for one loaf of bread;

llig. 2 is a perspective view, some parts being broken away and saine parts sectioned, showing the pan with the pre-sliced dough before the latter is finally raised and betere it is baked;

Fig. 3 is a perspective View showing the baked loaf contained in the pan;

Fig. l is a side elevation of the baked loar" with several slices partially severed from the loaf; n t

Fig. 5 is a view partly 1n side elevation and partly in vertical section, showing the machine or apparatus; and

Fig. 6 is a transverse section taken approximately on the line 6 6 ot llig. 5.

The numeral 7 indicates an ordinary bale ing pan of a size to contain the dough for one loaf of bread. ln Fig. 1, the character a indicates the dough from which the loaf is to be formed. ln Fig. 2, the dough a, which has not yet been finally raised and which has not, of course, yet been baked, is cut into slices on the line ai. ln Figs. 3 and el, the baked loaf is indicated, as an entirety, by the character b. 1n Fig. 4, the baked loaf is made up of the baked slices b having contact at 1, and, as already stated, the contacting faces of the slices being quite tlrmly united.

f lhe machine or apparatus comprises a base 8 having a lla-nge 9 that follows three sides of a rectangle and is adapted to properly position the pan 7 :tor the action thereon ot the knives and coperating presser head. From the rear et' the base 8 rises a strong pedestal 10 terminating in an upright sleeve 11 that is alined with the central portion or the positioned pan 7. Working vertically through the sleeve 11 is a plunger 12 provided with rack teeth 13 that are engageable with an under pinion lfi keyed, or otherwise, rigidly secured on a short shaft 15 journaled in laterally spaced lugs 102* of the pedestal 10. Rigidly secured to the shaft 15 is a lever head 16 from which extends an operating lever or bar 17.

Rigidly secured on the lower end of the plunger 12 is a knife carrying head 18 that has a plurality7 ot independent parallel knife blades 19. rlhese knife blades 19 are spaced apart the proper distance to cut the loaf into slices of the desired thickness, and, as shown, they t grooves cut in the .undersur` face ot the head 18 and are detachably but rigidly secured thereto by small rods 20 passed through alined perforations in said head and in the upper edge of said blades. Between the blades, the head 18 is provided with grease passages 21. ln their body p0rtions, the blades 19 are provided, each with a multiplicity or' perforations 22 that are, as will hereinafter appear, adapted to carry the lard, grease, or other fatty matter into the loaf.

The head 18 and blades 19 work within a so-called grease receptacle 23 that has a rigidly, but detachably secured head 211. rlhe said head 2e has a hub through which the plunger is loosely passed so that normally, the grease receptacle 23 is supported on the hub of the head 18. 'lhe knife blades 19 work with close engagement through slots 25 in the bottom of the grease receptacle 23. rthis grease receptacle 23 is adapted to contain lard or other suitable fatty matter for greasing the surfaces or the slices into which the dough is cut. For the purpose of introducing the lard or fatty matter into the receptacle 23, the cover 2l is shown as provided with a funnel neck Loosely placed on the cover 2l is a quite heavy weight 27 shown as of approximately 1icl-shape form and having suliicient weight to produce the desired pressure on the dough while it is being cut by the knives.

As shown in Fig. 6, the shaft l5 projects at both ends and mounted thereon, are coiled torsion springs 28 which, at their inner ends, are anchored to the lugs i103, and at their ,outer ends are anchored to washers 29 which, in turn, are keyed on the ends of the shaft l5, so that they oscillate with the said shaft. These springs exert sufficient force to normally hold the plunger l2, head 18,. knives 19, grease receptacle 23 and weight 27 in extreme uppermost positions, to wit, in positions in which the bottoni of the receptacle 23 will be above the upper edge of the pan 7. Here attention is called to the fact that in Fig. 5 the grease receptacle 23 is lowered into the pan and in position to engage the dough cz.

1When the pan with the dough therein is positioned, as shown in F ig. 5, by inovement of the lever 17 toward the left in respect to Fig. 5, the plunger l2 is positively forced downward and as it moves downward, its knives, of course are lowered and the greasereceptacle under the action of the weight 23, and its own gravity will be lowered therewith until the bottom of the said receptacle rests upon the dough. Then by further movement of the said lever the knives are forcel downward through the bottom of the grease receptacle and through the dough and until they strike the bottoni of the pan. Under such action, the knives are caused to cut the dough into slices forming sections and the perforations :22 which are filled with grease or fatty matter carry the said grease or fatty mat-ter between the cut surfaces and distribute the same over the entire cut surfaces. Here it will be noted that the perforations 22 are staggered to give a better distribution of the fatty inatter. lWhile thecuttting of the dough is taking place, as stated, the bottom of the grease receptacle 28 is pressed against the top of the dough with considerable force and the weight of the receptacle, its contents, and particularly by the weight 27. ln practice, the weight 27 has been approximately a fty pound Weight, as this is found to give the desired pressure on the dough. The lower portion of the grease receptacle 23 should quite closely fit the pan 7 so that the dough will not be pressed out of the pan.

When the lever 17 is moved back to its normal position, the rst effect is to raise the head 18 and withdraw the knives into the Laoaaie closing the slots 25, and then further movei ment of said lever toward its norma-l position to pick up and raise the grease receptacle to its normal position above the pan. lt will thus be seen that the bottom of the so called grease receptacle serves both as a. presser pla-te for putting the dough under pressure while it is being cut, and acting as a stripper plate for the knives when the latter are being raised out of the dough.

After the dough has been cut and its cut surfaces greased, as above described, it is lifted into the pan and put into the oven and baked.

The slices or sections of the baked loaf will, as already stated, quite closely adhere, that is, they will stick together closely and with suiiicient firmness to prevent the slices from being accidentally separated under ordinary and even quite rough handling of the loaf. `i'\levertheless, the cohesion is so light or fragile that the slices, one at a time, may be pulled olf from the loaf without breaking the slices. 'lhe flaky softened surface given to the slices makes the same very soft and palatable. lt is found in practice that a loaf thus baked will maintain its moisture for a. greater length of time than an ordinary integral loaf, and moreover, the slices, even when separated will not dry out as quickly as bread sliced from an ordinary loaf. However, a loaf of this kind is especially adapted to be placed on the table and the slices removed, as desired. This is particularly advantageous for army purposes where each soldier is given a predetermined amount or allowance of bread and where it is, therefore, desirable that the loaves be evenly sliced, so that each soldier gets his proper allowance, and a given number of loaves will always a'ord the predetermined number of slices. Nevertheless, for general use, the loaf thus baked is desirable.

Wha-t l claim is:

l. An apparatus for slicing the unbaked dough or bread loaf, comprising a grease receptacle, knives working through the bottom of said grease receptacle, and means for raising and lowering said knives and grease receptacle and projecting the knives through the bottom of/said receptacle when the latter` rests upon the dough.

2. An apparatus for slicing the unbaked dough of a bread loaf, comprising a pan for containing the dough, a vertically movable plunger having a head, a multiplicity of knives carried by said head and depending therefrom, a grease receptacle movable vertically on said plunger and carried on said head, said knives working through slots in the bottom of said grease receptacle.

3. An apparatus for slicing the unbaked Leoaeie dough of a bread loaf, comprising a pan for containing the dough, a vertically movable plunger having a head, a multiplicity of knives carried by said head and depending therefrom, a grease receptacle movable vertically 0n said plunger and carried on said head, said knives Working through slots in the bottom of said' grease receptacle, the

said knives having grease carrying cavities therein.

in testimony whereof l afix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

JHN D.. RAFERT. vWitnesses:

B. G. BAUMANN, HARRY D. KILGORE. 

